Attendance Decline

[Cajunsmike]

They have room for hundreds of thousands more watching their games on TV. Having all the LSU games on TV (where viewers don't have to search for it) hurst us more than having all our games available for viewing. Once again that is due to all the attention paid to the SEC by the entire media landscape. Also, this problem is in no way unique to us. Majority of G5 schools and many lower level P4 schools have the issue of declining in game attendance. The big TV games are not reflective of what is happening at most stadiums. Now, we may have one of the better teams this year of those in that number. Perhaps winning CONSISTENTLY will address the problem to some degree.

Sorry about duplicate message.

[jaxmc1023]

Can someone please tell me where we got our current tailgating strategy from? I can't find any other university that has this ridiculous model?

Remember the drawings from the Master Plan that showed the tailgating area whittled down to a small space between CF and the practice facility?

Everything this admin does is exactly what I would do if I wanted to eliminate average Joe tailgaters and keep a spot for your donors and politicians to smell each other's farts

[RedTails]

- Create Tailgate Tent for people who do not have a tailgate space. Subscription based or incremental fee to enter.

- Create pre-game tailgate area for families with small children at Blackham.
[/b]

I think Alumni Association tent covers first part, and they converted Russo Park to be a family tailgate area. Just not well reported/advertised. We need to pay a Gerald Gruenig or someone else with a good social media following to make some content of options for TG'ing for a home game.

[Duckster]

I'm not trying to be combative, but I genuinely would like to know what you think the new stadium changes.

Taking the temperature of the people at games tells you what your dwindling hardcore fan base wants. Those aren't the people who fill the stadium. You need to take the temperature of the 1000s of people who stopped going to games, and figure out what it would take to get them back. I have a feeling that "more legroom and comfortable chairs" arent' going to be high on the list.

Sure thing, glad to clarify my post. First with the survey suggestion was thinking more a 'survey monkey' type of thing. Certainly survey season ticket holders, students, alumni, etc., but not at the stadium type of thing. Sort of what was done about 6 or 7 years ago when stadium plan ideas were being formulated. I could be wrong about the timeline but recall giving my own feedback in a survey. Agree, sample size needs to be large. Fan of 71 made astute comments about the need for athletic administration to focus on customer service. Its possible to raise money and focus on service at the same time! Without fan satisfaction they will hit the wall with fundraising and agree they are missing the boat with majority of folks on a budget. Sometimes in a tight budget discretionary items like season tickets and tailgate passes are the first cut. If there is a continued unwillingness to seek out everyman fan feedback and act on prioritizing/solving at least top three issues, then no the new stadium will not attract more attendance. We all like to be asked for our business, that needs to happen regularly. Seems off and on. The stadium renovation is long overdue. I liken it from moving a business from a rundown building to a new space. Assuming its well done, it attracts new attention and more customers. We don't know if the stadium fan noise will be louder or if the PA will be toned down, can you have the freedom to come and go, or even it enough bottled water will be available. Alot can go south if management doesn't step up and execute better policies tailored to fan satisfaction on gameday inside and outside the stadium. Coach Des getting his program on track is a big plus. I'm trying to remain optimistic the biggest undertaking in Cajun athletics in recent years will be make us proud and make a difference to our football program. Most people are fair minded, may give things another chance. Beforehand, management needs to dig into problem solving or the stadium reno quickly becomes a lost opportunity to reengage the fan base. We shall see.

[VObserver]

It is not rocket science.

I can only use myself and my friends and relatives as examples of UL fans, and I admit that the sample size is small and seriously slanted toward older people. That being said, this is what I think should be done to make the Cajun Field experience something that people want to do.

1. First and foremost: Remember that fans are both your customers and your investors. Everything you do should be done to strengthen this bond rather than weaken it.

2. Remember that the vast majority of your customers and investors have limited entertainment dollars. If the in-stadium experience is less than outstanding, the customer will stop spending his limited funds in your venue.

3. Open the gates to the parking lot at 8:00 am game days; fans who tailgate want to be able to make it a day long event. Have a section of first-come first served free parking inside the stadium fence. Open it only from 8:00 am until noon.

4. Close off Cajundome Blvd. at 8:00 am game days and establish first-come first served tailgating from Blackham to the Cajun Dome.

5. Keep doing what we are doing with tailgating on the Bertrand side of the stadium. Some people are more than willing to pay for a reserved tailgate spot.

6. Fix the cell phone/internet problem at the stadium.

7. Take cash or card for concessions at all locations in or out of the stadium.

8. NEVER, under any set of circumstances, run out of water in concessions.

9. Double the size of the band, and re-name it the Pride of Louisiana. Turn off all canned music inside the stadium when the band enters the stadium; keep it off for the rest of the game. Fans want to feel like they are at a college football game, not trapped in a 4 hour video game. Fill the time-outs and dead ball pauses with music from the band.

10. Make whoever is on the PA quit being a damn cheerleader; we have kids on scholarship to do that job. The PA cheerleading is another thing that promotes the video game atmosphere.

11. Let the student section do student section things; by making the student section a jail, we discourage student involvement.

12. Utilize some portion of the ribbon board and/or the big board to show scores of other games, particularly other games involving conference mates or in state schools.

I could go on, but this dozen suggestions would make the Cajun Field experience much better for me, and I assume for most other fans as well.

[CajunJack55]

It is not rocket science.

I can only use myself and my friends and relatives as examples of UL fans, and I admit that the sample size is small and seriously slanted toward older people. That being said, this is what I think should be done to make the Cajun Field experience something that people want to do.

1. First and foremost: Remember that fans are both your customers and your investors. Everything you do should be done to strengthen this bond rather than weaken it.

2. Remember that the vast majority of your customers and investors have limited entertainment dollars. If the in-stadium experience is less than outstanding, the customer will stop spending his limited funds in your venue.

3. Open the gates to the parking lot at 8:00 am game days; fans who tailgate want to be able to make it a day long event. Have a section of first-come first served free parking inside the stadium fence. Open it only from 8:00 am until noon.

4. Close off Cajundome Blvd. at 8:00 am game days and establish first-come first served tailgating from Blackham to the Cajun Dome.

5. Keep doing what we are doing with tailgating on the Bertrand side of the stadium. Some people are more than willing to pay for a reserved tailgate spot.

6. Fix the cell phone/internet problem at the stadium.

7. Take cash or card for concessions at all locations in or out of the stadium.

8. NEVER, under any set of circumstances, run out of water in concessions.

9. Double the size of the band, and re-name it the Pride of Louisiana. Turn off all canned music inside the stadium when the band enters the stadium; keep it off for the rest of the game. Fans want to feel like they are at a college football game, not trapped in a 4 hour video game. Fill the time-outs and dead ball pauses with music from the band.

10. Make whoever is on the PA quit being a damn cheerleader; we have kids on scholarship to do that job. The PA cheerleading is another thing that promotes the video game atmosphere.

11. Let the student section do student section things; by making the student section a jail, we discourage student involvement.

12. Utilize some portion of the ribbon board and/or the big board to show scores of other games, particularly other games involving conference mates or in state schools.

I could go on, but this dozen suggestions would make the Cajun Field experience much better for me, and I assume for most other fans as well.

Agree with all these except the last part of #9. Students/kids and those just out of college love the music/light shows etc for the "party" atmosphere. We just aren't quite there yet. We can implement that and still leave room for the band to play as well. We have to have both to create the atmosphere needed to attract the younger crowd. Even the SEC stadiums have to do this now.

[Duckster]

It is not rocket science.

I can only use myself and my friends and relatives as examples of UL fans, and I admit that the sample size is small and seriously slanted toward older people. That being said, this is what I think should be done to make the Cajun Field experience something that people want to do.

1. First and foremost: Remember that fans are both your customers and your investors. Everything you do should be done to strengthen this bond rather than weaken it.

2. Remember that the vast majority of your customers and investors have limited entertainment dollars. If the in-stadium experience is less than outstanding, the customer will stop spending his limited funds in your venue.

3. Open the gates to the parking lot at 8:00 am game days; fans who tailgate want to be able to make it a day long event. Have a section of first-come first served free parking inside the stadium fence. Open it only from 8:00 am until noon.

4. Close off Cajundome Blvd. at 8:00 am game days and establish first-come first served tailgating from Blackham to the Cajun Dome.

5. Keep doing what we are doing with tailgating on the Bertrand side of the stadium. Some people are more than willing to pay for a reserved tailgate spot.

6. Fix the cell phone/internet problem at the stadium.

7. Take cash or card for concessions at all locations in or out of the stadium.

8. NEVER, under any set of circumstances, run out of water in concessions.

9. Double the size of the band, and re-name it the Pride of Louisiana. Turn off all canned music inside the stadium when the band enters the stadium; keep it off for the rest of the game. Fans want to feel like they are at a college football game, not trapped in a 4 hour video game. Fill the time-outs and dead ball pauses with music from the band.

10. Make whoever is on the PA quit being a damn cheerleader; we have kids on scholarship to do that job. The PA cheerleading is another thing that promotes the video game atmosphere.

11. Let the student section do student section things; by making the student section a jail, we discourage student involvement.

12. Utilize some portion of the ribbon board and/or the big board to show scores of other games, particularly other games involving conference mates or in state schools.

I could go on, but this dozen suggestions would make the Cajun Field experience much better for me, and I assume for most other fans as well.

Perfect!

[Esqueleto]

It is not rocket science.

I can only use myself and my friends and relatives as examples of UL fans, and I admit that the sample size is small and seriously slanted toward older people. That being said, this is what I think should be done to make the Cajun Field experience something that people want to do.

1. First and foremost: Remember that fans are both your customers and your investors. Everything you do should be done to strengthen this bond rather than weaken it.

2. Remember that the vast majority of your customers and investors have limited entertainment dollars. If the in-stadium experience is less than outstanding, the customer will stop spending his limited funds in your venue.

3. Open the gates to the parking lot at 8:00 am game days; fans who tailgate want to be able to make it a day long event. Have a section of first-come first served free parking inside the stadium fence. Open it only from 8:00 am until noon.

4. Close off Cajundome Blvd. at 8:00 am game days and establish first-come first served tailgating from Blackham to the Cajun Dome.

5. Keep doing what we are doing with tailgating on the Bertrand side of the stadium. Some people are more than willing to pay for a reserved tailgate spot.

6. Fix the cell phone/internet problem at the stadium.

7. Take cash or card for concessions at all locations in or out of the stadium.

8. NEVER, under any set of circumstances, run out of water in concessions.

9. Double the size of the band, and re-name it the Pride of Louisiana. Turn off all canned music inside the stadium when the band enters the stadium; keep it off for the rest of the game. Fans want to feel like they are at a college football game, not trapped in a 4 hour video game. Fill the time-outs and dead ball pauses with music from the band.

10. Make whoever is on the PA quit being a damn cheerleader; we have kids on scholarship to do that job. The PA cheerleading is another thing that promotes the video game atmosphere.

11. Let the student section do student section things; by making the student section a jail, we discourage student involvement.

12. Utilize some portion of the ribbon board and/or the big board to show scores of other games, particularly other games involving conference mates or in state schools.

I could go on, but this dozen suggestions would make the Cajun Field experience much better for me, and I assume for most other fans as well.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! To all of this. Bravo

[Turbine]

Can we have some in sync roaming band members around the stadium like Trumpet and Sax?

[Ragin9221]

Call me crazy? Why cant people just tailgate next to there vehicles? I realize traffic is coming in and out, but as long as i am not prohibiting traffic from going in and out then it shouldn’t be a problem. We did this for years no issue! We have cops that monitor the situation and if anyone is blocking access then they need to be told that they cant do that here.

[CajunVic]

right now I see our fan base for football in the following numbers:

5,000 will always attend every game unless they are in the hospital or bed ridden

8,000 that will make substantially all games (80% attendance), rain or shine but will have an occasional family conflict events, opening day of some hunting season, etc. for which they may miss

6400 = 11,400

2,000 Season ticket holders not in either group (60% attendance) these purchase season tickets to support Louisiana but not necessarily as much to actually attend most games

1200 =13,600

20,000 Alumni who do not have season tickets but will attend a couple games a year if there is no family conflict, hunting conflict, conflict with an LSU game whether they want to attend the LSU game or even watch it on TV if there is a time conflict ( 15% attendance)

3,000 = 16600

others not in any of these categories 1,400

1400 = 18,000

Folks, that is our fan base whether we like it or not . . . we have seen that winning has boosted that number a couple of thousand, but it is what it is and really with minor anomalies has always reverted back to somewhere around that attendance number

The new stadium may move the needle somewhat but don't expect it to be a monumental movement.

If all that is proposed here to enhance the game day experience was put in place, that may move the needle somewhat, but again, don't expect the movement to be monumental.

If we do not get a somewhat robust NIL program in place, winning will continue to be more difficult and that will definitely reduce from the results we are having this year because of the reduction in talent that we are able to attract.

without the injection of personal insults and directives, lets entertain here your observations, objections and solutions as to each of the things provided above in an attempt to alter the past trends concerning attendance . . . have at it. . .

[Cajunrunner]

Why is it when sports become more successful, which in turns becomes more visible, you feel the need to remind everyone about Academic Excellence?

No one will deny the primary function of the university is to educate people. But while we are talking about attendance decreases, what about the drastic decline in degree seeking students? Isn’t that a bigger problem?

+1

And here’s the thing. While we like to promote the academics of UL on this board…the reality is what brings folks here is discussions about Ragin Cajuns athletics. So yeah, we’re gonna talk sports on here 97.183% of the time.